September 18, 2026: Planning for Poop
Good Morning,
I held this week's newsletter back because - as you'll see below - the story was changing in live time, so I wanted to ensure this newsletter was a permanent version of the entire story before relating it back to pool operations.
Dryland fitness learned this week something aquatic professionals have known for years: you need to have a plan for poop.
ICYMI: last Saturday, September 12, 2026 an Australian athlete named Joanna Wietrzyk was competing at an indoor HYROX competition at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China. "HYROX combines both running & functional workout stations, where participants run 1km, followed by 1 functional workout station, repeated eight times.... This race format remains consistent across the globe, enabling global leaderboards & a cumulative World Championships at the end of each race season"
During the race, Joanna experienced explosive diarrhea that penetrated her shorts and ran down her legs (Google with caution.) While these types of accidents are not necessarily uncommon for endurance athletes, Joanna continued the competition which, unlike a solo event like a marathon, happens in a confined area with shared equipment and 100 other athletes due to the repeating nature of the sport. Joanna ended up winning the event, flaunting "a win is a win" in a since-deleted post on social media.
I probably don't need to tell you the problem with this incident. We close chlorinated swimming pools for at least 25 minutes at a Free Available Chlorine (FAC) of 2 mg/L for formed (scoopable) poop, and 12.75 hours for diarrhea (unscoopable) because of the biohazard to other swimmers who may be nearby; we're not even talking about proven physical contact with someone else's fecal matter.
What has transpired since I started writing this newsletter is that the event has since refunded all participants' registration fees; the cofounder apologized; HYROX rewrote the rulebook; PUMA dropped a collaboration retail line with Joanna (she also competed wearing PUMA and/or was sponsored); and - the final piece yesterday - the athlete apologized for her actions.
In the endless discussion & think pieces about this event across social media, Reddit, athlete forums, etc. there's one key assumption missing from the conversation in my opinion: the assumption a participant will opt out.
Dr. Katie Cleasby talked about this extensively in her research on why endurance athletes fatally drown during open water events: they don't stop... either due to pride, ignorance, confidence, or the full knowledge of the thousands of dollars they've already spent just to show up to the starting line of a high-profile event.
We have to make and post even the most basic rules in pool operations (no alcohol in the hot tub, don't spit in the pool, swim within arms' reach of your children, etc.) because participants do not voluntary opt out or comply.
My directive for you this week is to review your contamination procedures for your aquatic facility, and not just in the water! Do you have easy-to-understand checklists and tracking tools for dealing with all forms of biological & physical contamination (poop, vomit, blood, broken glass, etc.) in the pool? What about your policies for excluding bathers who appear or become unwell? That was clearly the gap at HYROX Beijing: there was no policy for poop, and no one appears to have had the leadership to make a difficult decision outside of the rulebook/policies in live time.
Have a conversation about this incident at your next toolbox meeting or inservice training. It might seem obvious to us what the HYROX organizers should have done, but would your aquatic or frontline staff have the confidence and policy support to make similar decisions during peak use times, such as swim lessons or special event? Is there a decision-making flow chart or phone tree to help?
When it comes to surfaces, consider building a physical contamination response kit. At my last facility, it was a dedicated red bucket with cotton rags intended to be thrown out; thick, elbow-length rubber gloves; bright orange mini sport cones to isolate the area; laminated biohazard signs; and a spray bottle with high concentration liquid chlorine to redirect traffic from the area until deeper cleaning could be done. See also this article I wrote for PoolPro.
Here's everything else this week I think you should know about this week. I'm keeping commentary to a minimum because this is already going out so late this week, so watch for the YouTube Live video for more commentary.
Contractor Blames Its Own Repairs, Not Vandals, for Reflecting Pool Failure
Surprising absolutely no one who's worked in the swimming pool industry for any length of time.
How often do you think about mixing valves?
Teen boy who clung to overturned boat for days rescued in Bering Sea
This is simply remarkable.
Changes to Airborne Contaminants Legislation — Implications for the National Aquatic Industry
City Releases Feasibility Studies for Proposed Aquatic Facility
How the 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pools Are Deep Cleaned
Last week was the 25th anniversary of 9/11. I love this short documentary about the pool operators who care for the 9/11 memorial pools at Ground Zero.
Cruise Guest Dies Weeks After Sun Princess Pool Fall
I genuinely wish we had more details to understand how this happened.
Surfers gather to farewell beloved Bondi Rescue lifeguard Matt Dee
How to Make Employees Care About the Customer Experience
I love this writer. His last book Stop the Shift Show was excellent; I highly recommend it if you manage a team of hourly staff.
Palm Bay residents urge city to keep aquatic center open
Tasmania’s drowning deaths jump 25% above 10-year average
Mayor Sean Ryan, City of Buffalo, Celebrate Safe, Successful Pool Season
I love the idea of celebrating a safe summer.
Where Swim Lessons Fit in a Layers of Protection Strategy: A Facility Playbook
A field guide to seeing through false expertise
I would respectfully say that aquatics is a part of this problem: not everyone who posts online is a purveyor of expertise, and not enough is done by individuals or organizations to really sort through the noise.
Clairemont community rallies to demand city reopen pool
Man dies during swim portion of Madison IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon
No Gym Required
When I lived in Israel & Hong Kong, outdoor public equipment was common. I'm happy to see this taking off now in North America.
Is Your Workplace Biased Against Introverts?
Shelter From the Storm... and Sun
9-year-old who drowned at SwimRVA summer camp was underwater for 10 minutes, family attorneys claim
Norway considers ban on camera-enabled wearable ‘pervert glasses’
Meta bricked the cameras on thousands of its AI glasses
"Thousands of Meta's AI glasses no longer have functioning cameras after the company detected people tampering with the recording indicator lights."
Ariarne Titmus leads Aussie athletes hitting back at Sydney Sweeney’s x-rated sport ad
Hatfield Aquatic Center deficit projected at about $45,000 as township plans public review
If you haven't seen some version of this chart across social media over the last few years, I would encourage you to share it with your aquatic team (if you're at a publicly-funded facility) because often the complaints we get about pool service levels & programs need to be directed to somewhere different.
That's it for this week, it's been a long one! I'm very much looking forward to vacation in a few weeks; 2026 has been challenging.
Katie Crysdale
Lakeview Aquatic Consultants Ltd.
No AI tools were used to research, consolidate, format or write any portion of this newsletter.